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Our research on learning using mobile technologies has impacted on:
Our research into practices around learning resources has had a major impact on teaching in other higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK and internationally, on the policy of funding bodies, has been embedded in repository design, and contributed to public policy on transparent government. Our emphasis on socio-cultural factors has changed educational culture, leading to richer policy, by shifting debate from a view of resources as technological objects, to practices.Through shaping the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and Higher Education Academy (HEA) programmes in Open Educational Resources (UKOER) and Digital Literacies, our research has had impact on professional services around open learning practices in over 90 HEIs, and had direct impact on digital literacy support in at least six. Our findings have informed a report to the Cabinet Office on 'Transparent Government'. Internationally, our work has prompted major repositories of resources in the USA, Estonia, the Netherlands and Australia to take a user-centred social focus in repository design.
The delivery of interchangeable services across a range of educational platforms has been a long-term problem in the field of technology enhanced learning. The Institute for Educational Cybernetics (IEC) identified widgets as having a potential role in resolving this problem, and developed a widget server, Wookie, to provide a research tool to investigate this. The research is summarised in [4] and [6]. The work attracted international attention, and the server has been reused in a number of other projects to provide interoperable services, both in education and beyond, and including a number of European funded initiatives. The impact of the work was recognised and enhanced by its acceptance by the Apache Software Foundation as an incubator project. It has now graduated as Apache Wookie, and is a full Apache project.
Our research explored the ways the emerging Semantic Web can support teaching and learning. It identified case based learning as a key area and outputs were used to enhance the unique research council funded Economic and Social Data Service public collections and pioneers pages. Results informed the thinking of accountancy bodies on e-assessment via the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants/International Association for Accounting Education. An exemplary user case study derived from the research was selected by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The research supported the aggregation and presentation of Open Educational Resources via JISC. Project software and documentation was released as open source. Outcomes provided the `Liverpool, City of Radicals' Project timeline.
This case study describes impact arising from research into designing constructionist tools that provide personalisation, support and guidance to learners and teachers, resulting in software used in several schools, FE colleges and universities world-wide. Constructionist learning is founded on the principle of constructionism which argues for the pedagogical importance of building artefacts as a way of building mental representations. A key computational challenge in the design of tools that foster constructionist learning is to provide intelligent support that guides users towards productive interaction with the tool without constraining its creative potential.
The use of technology to enhance student learning is known to have a significant impact on achievement in all subject areas and across all stages of schooling and learning. Educational computer games and online tools help engage students — making learning enjoyable and therefore more effective. Computer scientists at Leicester are expert in the analysis of online learning tools and educational games. They have used this expertise to evaluate whether and why such games or tools work and, most importantly, how they can be improved.
The research has been used by:
The Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education (TLC) project, which UWE researchers led the design of and played a key role in undertaking, informed policy debates on a range of issues including the quality of teaching and learning in Further Education (FE) settings. Several FE sector teacher training programmes (e.g. Cardiff University) have changed aspects of their content as a consequence of this research, for example to help trainees better understand and develop a positive learning culture in their classrooms. This benefits the trainee teachers and, as a consequence, the learning outcomes for the students they work with. Processes to enhance the practice of established teachers in FE have been implemented as a consequence of this research, for example, City of Bristol College's peer mentoring scheme improves the skills of lecturing staff and outcomes for learners. The project also produced a book that has been widely adopted by FE managers and tutors to help them better understand and enhance the learning context in contemporary college and adult education environments, resulting in more effective teaching and learning. On a wider level the research findings have influenced national policy debates on issues around the funding, practice, and management of teaching and learning activities across the post-compulsory education sector, particularly in further education.
For decades, museums tended to describe and present their social and cultural value through simplistic measures such as visitor numbers; understanding the impact of museums on their visitors was elusive and there was no means of collecting this evidence and presenting it in a rigorous, coherent and useful way. The Generic Learning Outcomes model (GLOs) was developed as a tool for museums, libraries and archives to demonstrate the outcomes and impact of users' learning experiences. The framework has revolutionised the way in which visitors' experiences are understood by providing practitioners, government and funders with a meaningful way to describe and evidence the impact of museum experiences on visitors and to report on these collectively. This research has had a significant and lasting impact on museum policy and practice by providing both a language to describe and present the learning that takes place in museums and a flexible tool for capturing and measuring a range of visitor experiences across the cultural heritage sector.
Impact is primarily economic and organizational, resulting from more effective leadership processes and practices by small firm owner-managers. The mechanism of impact was a programme known as LEAD (leadership, enterprise and development), which drew a significant community of owner-managers of smaller firms in Greater Merseyside into the Management School, to enable them to use research findings about managerial and entrepreneurial learning, leadership and business support in the running of their firms. The resulting impacts were on management practices and processes, and firm performances. Practitioners engaging with the University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS) LEAD programme experienced turnover increases averaging 21%. The beneficiaries are small firms, their employees and business support partnerships.
Outdoor learning is a multi-dimensional concept embracing three dimensions: `outdoor/adventure-sport activities', `personal development' and `environmental/sustainability education'. Its potential across curricula has been recognised in UK and international policy contexts. Research by Beames, Higgins, Nicol and Ross, and collaborators since 2000, has led directly to national and international developments: 1. Scottish Government (SG) policy on local outdoor learning; 2. SG and General Teaching Council for Scotland policy on sustainability education and outdoor learning; 3. specialist degree programmes, and continuing professional development for UK and overseas teachers. Related work has supported policy developments on recreational and educational countryside access.