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Research conducted between 1997 and 2013 at Loughborough University helped to tackle the `mathematics problem': a significant challenge for the entire UK Higher Education (HE) sector. Significant impact during the assessment period has arisen from the development of Mathematics Support Centres at UK and international Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), based on the model developed at Loughborough University, and from an online resource, mathcentre. A collaborative network of practitioners has facilitated the dissemination of the `Loughborough Model', and resulted in changes in institutional policy and practice. Direct beneficiaries have been teaching and support staff in HEIs and students across a broad range of disciplines.
The research improved the design and distribution of educational tests and software, textbooks, teaching materials, qualifications, and associated guides and research briefings in mathematics education. The MaLT project test papers have achieved sales of 350,000, with 382 interactive software versions. Some 27,000 certifications have been awarded using the Free Standing Mathematics qualifications. Research has influenced courses designed to aid transition into STEM in higher education, especially 13 programmes in seven universities engaged in a HE STEM funded mathematical modelling project.
A design research programme in mathematics education by The University of Nottingham has been taken up by two powerful US change agents — the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics — as a key element in their strategies to improve the quality of teaching and learning in secondary mathematics classrooms across the US.
Beginning with small-scale design research on diagnostic teaching in mathematics, effective principles for the design of lessons were developed to enable teachers to adapt to students' learning needs. These principles were then engineered into robust products and processes through systematic, closely observed classroom trials.
This case study describes how research at King's College London directly informed the Government's policy to ensure near-universal participation to age 18 in mathematics education within a decade. This research has shown that (i) England's participation in post-16 mathematics is unusually low internationally, and that (ii) mathematical attainment in England has fallen since the 1970s. This evidence has been cited by government ministers as the basis for their decision to change policy on the study of mathematics in post-16 education. Subsequent research into how other countries achieve high participation has informed the content and implementation of the policy.
Research by the University of Nottingham's Education and Technology for Health team has benefited healthcare students, professionals, users, carers and institutions both in the UK and internationally by establishing a participatory methodology for high-quality, sustainable multimedia Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs). These learning tools are now used in 50 countries globally to facilitate individual access to knowledge, enhance learning within curriculums and deliver continuing professional development, with feedback showing satisfaction of up to 100% in some nations. They are also being used to train healthcare professionals in resource-poor countries, further strengthening the University of Nottingham's role as a global education provider.
Outcomes of the research conducted at the University of Edinburgh (2001 to 2007) that have had the most far-reaching impact are a strong conceptualisation of the whole learning environment (including curricula, teaching, learning support, and assessment and feedback) and its influence on the quality of undergraduates' learning. What gave these outcomes added resonance was a concern for disciplinary distinctiveness as well as more generic features; an alertness to the pervasive implications for day-to-day teaching-learning practices of mass 21st-century higher education; and a focus on enhancing as well as evaluating the student experience.
The reach of the impact extends to university teachers, middle and senior academic managers, local and national bodies with responsibilities for surveying quality and standards and, albeit less directly, students. Staff in at least 21 universities in 12 countries have used the Experiences of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ). The National Student Survey questionnaire was influenced by the ETLQ, and has continuing UK-wide impact on teaching through students' retrospective ratings of their experience. Project outputs were directed towards teaching staff through workshops, publications and invited presentations, followed by detailed advice on assessment and feedback of coursework.
The research undertaken by Professor Sue Bloxham and colleagues has had a significant impact on the approach to assessment in Higher Education. It has influenced practitioners, universities and advisory/regulatory bodies, providing advice for University tutors on communicating assessment expectations and contributing to national body and university guidance to encourage student learning and consistent marking. The research has helped tutors understand their individual `standards framework' involving tacit, norm-referenced knowledge, holistic judgement and local negotiation of shared standards as well as the importance of dialogic, formative assessment opportunities for communicating their standards to students. This has led to improvements in assessment policies, practice and national guidelines in the UK.
The research in this impact case study has affected discourses concerning professional development and pedagogy from early years classrooms to higher education. By challenging orthodoxies, researchers have delivered new and generative understandings of teacher knowledge that have influenced debate in educators' communities and professional associations. Consequently, these bodies have used our research to guide their approach to the advancement of policy, practice and professional development in all education sectors. The impacts of our research have reached out to a range of national contexts including the UK, Australia, Cyprus, and South Africa.
Profitnet®, established in 2004 by researchers at the University of Brighton's (UoB) Centre for Research in Innovation Management (CENTRIM), has influenced the performance of over 1,100 small businesses in the UK, Ireland and South Africa, working with the leaders of these businesses and affecting the working life of around 15,000 employees. The University has established 84 peer-to-peer networks in these countries, transforming the profitability and sustainability of the participating small companies. Evidence from the county of Sussex shows that Profitnet-participating firms in Sussex increased their gross profits by 9% while the overall population of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the county experienced a decrease of 15.2% in profits during the same time.
The University of Brighton's (UoB) research has reduced information misuse and decreased the threat of data and identity theft in Nokia Location and Commerce (L&C). Further impact has been to lower the risk of corporate liability and consumers' personal loss. UoB's innovative research in the creation of concept diagrams now underpins and provides rigour to Nokia L&C's privacy engineering processes. Consequently, they can now communicate complex information across diverse teams in an intuitive and accessible manner. Ultimately, the impact is on all customers and users of Nokia's L&C's services worldwide.