SUPI Spotlight News, views and learning from the School-University Partnerships Initiative

ISSUE 04 Winter 2014

WHAT’S IN IT FOR… UNIVERSITIES?

PROFESSOR TIM O’BRIEN AND ROZ WEBSTER, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER HOSTED SUPI

this issue

What’s in it for universities? P.1 Tips of the Term P.2

Aberystwyth SUPI Spotlight P.3 Southampton SUPI Spotlight P.5

Out and About & News P.6

The most obvious link between universities and schools is that schools produce our valuable raw material: new

undergraduates that we welcome onto our degree programmes. True of course, but working closely with schools on a

project like SUPI has benefits far beyond recruitment….

Broadening horizons

The work that we do with school students, particularly those in

Year 12, allows us to present them with a wider range of options as

some subjects are well known, but others less so. Working closely

with a researcher or undergraduate can broaden horizons, not just

in initial subject choice but also in laying foundations for

postgraduate study and careers in research or industry. School

pupils are also very receptive to our undergraduate student

ambassadors who help to translate the research-led content of

sessions. They are closer in age and experience and help to bridge

the gap on event days.

There are also broader societal implications, for example, in

widening participation, gender balance, or BME (Black and Ethnic

Minority) representation and achievement. The recent report

‘Women in Engineering: Fixing the talent pipeline’ (Institute for

Public Policy Research, Sep 2014) shows that women account for

only 7 per cent of the professional engineering workforce in the

UK, and less than 4 per cent of engineering technicians – far less

than in other European countries. By linking our engineering

researchers with pupils at a stage when they are considering their

future careers we can hope to address these imbalances.

Networks

Being part of SUPI has resulted in the development of informal

networks with teachers, which have a number of benefits to the

university. These include sharing best practice about teaching

methods, improving our knowledge of entry level skills, discussion

of issues affecting schools including changes to the curriculum, and

helping to sustain links for the future.

A ‘Celebrating Genomics Day’ for Biology A-Level pupils at the Nowgen Centre

A BBSRC PhD students works with A-Level pupils

2

Tips of the Term Projects share what’s been working well for them

As our SUPI is based centrally in our Widening Participation team

rather than in an academic School or Faculty, this has also helped

internal networking across the University. Having a central point of

contact means we have found out more about what’s already

happening across the University (a lot!), made connections, and

helped bring interested researchers out of the woodwork.

These cross-disciplinary connections also benefit the researchers

who take part in our training programmes and activities. This in

turn helps the academic departments, as the researchers apply new

skills to their own work and develop new projects, which wouldn’t

have been possible otherwise.

REF and Impact

Universities have recently emerged from the 2014 Research

Excellence Framework (REF), which assesses the quality of our

research and determines future funding. For the first time this

included an assessment of the impact of our research on wider

society. A number of REF impact case studies from Manchester

incorporated our work with schools. Since the SUPI programmes

specifically address current research, they will be ideally placed to

contribute to future impact. Here one challenge will be to continue

development of appropriate evaluation.

Summary

SUPI has been a great project for our university, as we’re sure it has

for others, in part because it incorporates all three of our core goals:

world-class research; outstanding learning and student experience;

and social responsibility. Universities are not ivory towers – our

work with schools not only enhances the impact of our research and

improves the quality of our teaching and learning, but it’s also an

important focus for our wider community engagement.

The Open University/Denbigh Teaching School

Alliance SUPI has found it useful to assess our

activities in relation to the number of people in-

volved, which provides a measure of reach,

against the number of hours they were engaged

in a given activity—this gives a measure of the

significance of the intervention.

Open University SUPI

Getting Schools Involved: Make it impossible for them to say no! Follow up letters and emails with phone calls and

visits. Approach a variety of staff, don’t give up if the Head is not interested, but try other staff including Heads of Year,

Heads of Department, or keen subject teachers.

To create a successful blended learning environment we had the University E-learning team on the Advisory Board

so they ‘bought in’ to the project from its conception.

Aberystwyth University SUPI

Don’t underestimate the value of undergraduate students. We

have used them effectively in a number of activities to help

translate the research-led content of sessions. Pupils are

almost always more receptive to UG students as they are closer

in age and experience, so help bridge the gap on event days.

University of Manchester SUPI

Make sure that University research

staff and students are made aware of

school term dates, in-service days,

exam dates and holiday dates to make

it easier to plan activities.

University of Strathclyde SUPI

LifeLab (a SUPI sub-project and a project in its own

right) has shown us the importance of building a

profile. LifeLab was officially opened by the Countess

of Wessex this year, but has been working with local

schools for approximately 5 years. Knowledge of the

project is now so widespread and its reputation so

positive amongst teachers and managers in local

schools that all the schools in Southampton have

signed up to take their pupils to visit the facility.

Creating a ‘buzz’ around a project in this way can

only happen if it is allowed time to develop.

University of Southampton SUPI

2

Good simple events, such as lectures, can provide school

teachers with confidence in the quality of the University’s

activities and lead to deeper partnerships; lectures also provide

young people with an experience that is not available in school.

Cardiff University SUPI

What benefits do you see for universities working with schools?

Are you using SUPI in REF impact case studies? Share your

views via SUPI@jiscmail.ac.uk

3

Aberystwyth University hosted SUPI Blended Learning Environments for Active Engagement: How Online Resources Can Help

Schools and Universities to Collaborate

Dr Paula Hughes

Pro

ject S

po

tligh

t

Background to the SusNet project

The Sustainability Network Wales (SusNet) project enables Sixth

Form students in Ceredigion to engage with a range of exciting,

research-led academic modules, delivered by departments across

Aberystwyth University. Although diverse in content, each module

shares the common theme of sustainability and/or social responsi-

bility. The modules differ in format, but each uses a blended learn-

ing environment for delivery that combines face-to-face and online

learning activities (providing a total of 10 hours ‘contact’ time).

The online activities are delivered through the university’s Virtual

Learning Environment (VLE), Blackboard, which is available 24/7

and creates an accessible and flexible working environment for

pupils and researchers. The use of online submission tools and

resources has proved invaluable as many Ceredigion pupils live in

rural communities. Examples from the biology and geography

modules, both now in their second year of delivery, show how

these online resources work in practice.

Drug Resistance in Nematode Worms

Designed by Dr Joanne Hamilton and Dr Elizabeth Hart, this

award-winning module* investigates the concept of drug re-

sistance in parasitic nematode worms. Face-to-face sessions are

scheduled after school and provide students with experience of

microscopy, experimental design and execution, molecular biology

and bioinformatics. Being practical in nature, this module has a

relatively high proportion of face-to-face contact time with a total

of six 1-2 hour sessions. There are also tours of world-class research

facilities such as the National Phenomics Centre, Next Generation

Sequencing and Advanced Bioimaging, which require the students

to visit the University.

Blackboard supports each session with additional material such as

experimental protocols, links to research papers, video clips and A-

Level revision notes (see figure 1); we have also made short videos

of some of the tours for students who are unable to attend in per-

son. Students submit their assignments via Turnitin and receive

feedback from tutors electronically. Pupils commented that it

was a ‘fun, fantastic opportunity’ to do research.

Sustainable Water Resources: Barriers and Solutions

This academic unit was designed and delivered by Dr Hywel

Griffiths of the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences

(DGES). During the introductory session students are encouraged

to explore web-based, open-access data sources and tools available

to address some of the barriers to water sustainability. Students are

also shown how to use a simple soil-vegetation-atmosphere model

(SimSphere) in order to attempt to forecast climatological and hy-

drological variables. This is supported with material on Black-

board, including video clips, instructions on how to access and use

SimSphere, and links and instructions so that students can con-

struct their own flood chronology using sources such as the Na-

tional Library of Wales’ Welsh Newspapers and the British Hydro-

logical Society’s Chronology of British Hydrological Events. The

introductory session is recorded (both audio and video) using soft-

ware called Panopto and made available to the students on Black-

board. This provides an excellent resource for the students to re-

view the session and makes it possible for absent pupils to get in-

volved later on. After the online tasks are completed, a field trip to

Cwymystwyth allows students to construct a lichen growth curve

and uses geomorphological mapping and lichenometry to date

boulder berms associated with large historical floods.

Benefits to pupils and researchers

Engaging with Blackboard and Turnitin provides the students with

training and experience of using a VLE; raises issues of citation and

plagiarism;

builds pupil con-

fidence; and pro-

vides a taste of

real University

Student Experi-

ence.

The VLE also

facilitates more

effective com-

munication with

the students:

Dr Griffiths with teachers and Geography A-Level students attending the

Welsh-medium introductory session in DGES

From the start, the Aberystwyth SUPI team realised that teaching time for the A-Level students they wanted to work with

would be at a premium; Paula Hughes explores how online resources helped overcome this problem by creating a

sustainable mechanism for researcher-pupil interaction.

* Dr Hart received a commendation for the design of this module at the 2014 Aberystwyth University Exemplary Course Awards

We have found that the project has

benefited the school in a number of

ways: pupils have been able to use lab

equipment that is not available in

school; they have gained a taste of

university study… they have been able

to try courses beyond the subjects on

offer in school and in several cases have

realised that university study is not

beyond their reach... Sarah Payne,

Head of Sixth Form, Penglais School

4

staff can send email updates and announcements directly to pupils

registered on specific modules, or to everyone taking part in the

SusNet programme. Turnitin provides added flexibility and con-

venience because students can submit assignments or access

marks and feedback from anywhere without being restricted by

office hours. Staff can mark when most convenient for them, with

the ‘Quick Marks’ feature in Turnitin making this process as effi-

cient as possible (figure 2).

Challenges encountered

During the first year of the project there were problems in ensur-

ing that all pupils could access Blackboard, which stemmed from

the way that Information Services (IS) required SusNet students to

activate their accounts and set passwords. Working closely with

IS, we now have a system in place where our students complete a

specific SusNet IS access form and then have their username and

password sent to the project co-ordinator to be passed to schools.

This has resulted in all students having access to Blackboard dur-

ing a module and has increased the submission of final assess-

ments.

SusNetability: Plans for the future

The key to creating successful blended learning environments has

been to have our Blackboard and E-learning team on board from

the start. This team forms part of our SusNet Advisory Board and

‘bought in’ to the project from its conception. In the first year we

piloted the project with our lead school and are now actively

growing our SusNetwork both in terms of schools participation

and the number of academic departments contributing units.

What started out initially as a vision mainly for STEM subjects has

grown to include nine academic departments (as diverse as Inter-

national Politics and Theatre, Film and Television Studies) and

involves key non-academic departments such as the Centre for

Widening Participation and Social Inclusion, Schools and Colleges

Liaison, and Information Services. During the coming year SusNet

will have a portfolio of 12 modules and now have all schools in

Ceredigion involved and have expanded the programme to inter-

ested schools in neighbouring Powys.

Keys to making it work

Aligning modules with the A-Level exam syllabus (a

reflective, iterative process with teachers and researchers

to add value and extend the curriculum)

Introducing pupils to university-style research skills

(breaking down negative perceptions and barriers and

building confidence)

Offering English and Welsh-medium courses

(learning is most effective when it takes place in the

language of choice)

The final mark can be entered here

and synchronised so that it appears

in the Gradebook

Figure 1: Screenshot from Blackboard showing learning resources to

support practical sessions on the biology module

Figure

2: Scre

en

sho

t sho

win

g an e

xamp

le su

bm

ission

in th

e

Turn

itin

staff in

terface

The script can be annotated using

‘Quick Marks’ to highlight the parts

of the text being commented upon

The marker can also create their

own ‘Quick Marks’ so that these can

be quickly added to particular types

of assignment

Additional written or audio

feedback can be added here by

clicking on the ‘speech bubble’ icon

5

Southampton hosted SUPI Increasing the effectiveness of partnerships

Lindsay Wager

Pro

ject S

po

tligh

t

The challenge

One of the key issues arising from the project is finding ways that

partnerships can be maintained when a key individual leaves either

the university or a particular school. This can be a significant prob-

lem and is largely due to the fact that involvement in projects of

this nature tends to be on a voluntary basis rather than a specific

part of a job role. This also causes difficulties in communication

between individuals who already have extremely busy workloads,

which can make arranging face-to-face meetings or agreeing the

content of a given activity very difficult.

The ‘Discover Oceanography’ project

One of the Talk to US! sub-projects is ‘Discover Oceanography’,

which has been running at the National Oceanography Centre

(NOC) for several years. The project has funded a number of

schools to take part in a programme that involves going out on a

research vessel with university staff to collect samples. This sub-

project has been very successful in enabling pupils and teachers to

gain a real insight into the research that happens at the NOC and

the range of subjects that are covered.

One of the schools

we are working with

has put together a

scheme of work

based on the ac-

tivities that pupils

carry out on the boat

and was keen to im-

plement this across

Year 8. Unfortunate-

ly, in the first year there were some teething problems be-

cause the material covered on the boat trip did not entirely fit the

content of the scheme of work that was written. However, in Year 2

a Senior Research Assistant was employed within the Oceanogra-

phy Department whose role included responsibility for coordinat-

ing and developing the ‘Discover Oceanography’ programme. This

has enabled the teacher involved in planning the scheme of work to

thoroughly discuss the content of the lessons and boat trip with a

member of academic staff who understands both the science be-

hind what is being covered and the practicalities involved in taking

school students out on the boat.

Traditionally ‘Discover Oceanography’ sessions have only included

the sampling techniques on the boat, but schools have requested

that visits last for a whole day to

justify the admin involved in

bringing pupils out of school.

Planning these extra sessions

has been a bit ‘hit and miss’ in

the past, but having an internal

contact who is familiar with the

rooms, sessions and expertise

available has proven invaluable.

Building sustainable part-

nerships for the future

We are now planning laboratory

sessions and lectures that will

take place in the Oceanography

Centre. This will enable us to

split classes between the boat

and the Centre and improve the

pupil experience. Having time to think about and execute ideas has

also led to further extension of the project, including the produc-

tion of an accompanying teacher booklet, and funding for hard to

reach schools to take part in the project as part of the research ves-

sel’s 10 year anniversary celebrations.

As the permanent appointment of the Senior Research Assistant is

independent of the project, any resources or planning that happens

as part of Talk to US! will be sustainable after the funding has fin-

ished. As both the teacher and researcher involved have engage-

ment and/or planning written into their job descriptions the part-

nership itself will continue once the project has finished. If either

individual leaves their position then their replacements will have a

clear framework to continue this work and an incentive to do so.

With the exception of LifeLab, ‘Discover Oceanography’ is the only

Talk to US! sub-project with dedicated staff and independent fund-

ing streams. However, if the desired culture change is achieved

then it is more likely that appointments of this nature will be made

in other departments.

Lindsay Wager reflects upon some of the mechanisms through which the Talk to US! SUPI sub-project, ‘Discover Ocean-

ography’, enabled partnerships between local schools and the university’s National Oceanography Centre to thrive.

The benefits to mixed-ability pupils in

terms of their motivation and self-

esteem are clear. The first group,

involved over a year ago, still talk

about it now… they got to see science

in a different light and thought being

out on the oceanography boat was

amazing. Zoe Sterland, teacher

from Wyvern College, Eastleigh

A pupil identifies the plankton he

has collected

Keys to making it work

Making the support and development of school-university

activities part of job specifications

Clearly communicating the nature and parameters of an

activity i.e. through a teacher booklet

6

Out and About NCCPE Project Officer, Claire Wood, reflects on recent SUPI activities

Cla

ire W

oo

d

In my first four months as SUPI Project Officer at the NCCPE, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you and your projects

better and have particularly valued the opportunity to visit several SUPIs and see some fantastic activities first-hand,

including:

University of Manchester Networking Event (Oct 2014)

This event brought together researchers and teachers, allowing

individuals to identify opportunities for collaboration during a twi-

light session. Initially there was a welcome presentation, which

explained the aims of SUPI and featured five short testimonials

from teachers and researchers about the benefits of the project.

This was followed by a fair, at which the teachers could browse

researcher stalls and discuss the sort of activities that might work

in their settings. It was fantastic to see the range of disciplines rep-

resented and hear more about the museum-based education ses-

sions available through the ‘Culture Collective’, as well as engaging

in interactive activities with a science busker.

For further details see Roz Webster’s write-up of the first Networking

Event in the Spring 2014 Spotlight and

www.supi.manchester.ac.uk

University of Bristol EPQ Mentoring Fair (Nov 2014)

I was invited to attend an EPQ Mentoring Fair, which brought to-

gether 11 mentors in different subject areas with 40 students from

St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School. Over the course of an hour,

the mentors helped the pupils to refine their project ideas, as well

as offering further reading suggestions and research tips. Some of

the students’ EPQ projects sounded amazing!

Open University’s Science Matters Lectures (Dec 2014)

I joined local secondary school pupils to hear 4 fascinating talks

that explored cutting edge research in the Physical and Environ-

mental Sciences, from the mysteries of Mercury to the study of

microfossils, the Rosetta comet landing, and water inside the

moon. In the Q&A that followed, the students had a chance to hear

more about different research career pathways and posed some

tricky questions to the speakers...

You can view some of the talks and find out more about the projects

at the OU’s Engaging Research blog www.open.ac.uk/blogs/per/

I’m looking forward to visiting other SUPIs and seeing the

rich diversity of project activities. Please get in touch if there

are any events coming up that you would like to share, as this

will help to shape RCUK and the NCCPE’s sense of how the pro-

gramme is developing and how we can support its sustained suc-

cess.

Pro

f. Ro

the

ry, OU

, de

liverin

g his le

cture

.

Ph

oto

: Kate

Brad

shaw

SUPI News Annual Reports

Congratulations to all SUPI projects on completing your Annual

Reports! Feedback will follow after the meeting of the SUPI Adviso-

ry Board in March and we’ll be drawing together the learning that

is taking place at the coordination meeting and through the devel-

opment of new online resources.

Upcoming SUPI coordination meeting 21 April 2015, NCVO

Building, London

The next SUPI coordination meeting for project coordinators and

core members of SUPI teams will take place 10am-4.30pm on 21

April 2015 at the NCVO Building, London. The meeting will focus

on exploring challenges and solutions at an airing of ‘dirty laundry’

and discussion laundrette, and sharing some of the steps we’re put-

ting in place to make SUPIs more sustainable. The session will also

include the chance to put questions to Dr Saffron Townsend

(RCUK) about SUPI going forwards, and to inaugurate the SUPI

Swap Shop so that we can start to build a bank of school-university

partnership resources. If you’re travelling the day before, there will

also be the opportunity to get to know SUPI colleagues better at an

informal meal.

SUPI Members’ Area now online!

You can now find material relating to previous coordination meet-

ings, newsletters, and contact details available online in a private

SUPI Members’ Area. Go to www.publicengagement.ac.uk/work

-with-us/current-projects/supi-members-area and enter the

following details:

Username: SUPI Member Password: SuPiMemb!

You’ll also find a growing number of SUPI case studies on the

NCCPE website. Go to www.publicengagement.ac.uk/case-

studies and tick the ‘SUPI Project’ box.

7

About the School-University Partnerships Initiative (SUPI)

Funded by Research Councils UK, the School-University Partnerships Initiative (SUPI) supports 12 universities to work in

partnership with local schools to develop more effective engagements between researchers and pupils. SUPI projects are

seeking to inspire a broader range of pupils to develop inquiring minds, by engaging them in a diversity of exciting hands-on

research related activities. Researchers and teachers also benefit by sharing their expertise and resources, and through op-

portunities to enhance and develop their skills. As well as enriching the curriculum, the ultimate aim of SUPI is to motivate

young people to be excited about research and raise their aspirations for further study and future lives.

More information about the 12 SUPI projects is available at www.publicengagement.ac.uk/SUPI

About Research Councils UK (RCUK)

RCUK is the strategic partnership of the UK’s Research Councils, which annually invests around £3 billion in

research.

RCUK’s focus is on excellence with impact, nurturing the highest quality research as judged by international

peer review, providing the UK with a competitive advantage. Global research requires sustaining a diversity of funding

approaches, fostering international collaborations, and providing access to the best facilities and infrastructure, and

locating skilled researchers in stimulating environments.

RCUK research achieves impact—the demonstrable contribution to society and the economy made by knowledge and

skilled people. To deliver impact, researchers and funders need to engage and collaborate with the public, business,

government and charitable organisations.

More information is available at www.rcuk.ac.uk

About the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE)

Based in Bush House in central Bristol, the NCCPE was established in 2008 as part of the

Beacons for Public Engagement Initiative. Funded by the four UK Higher Education Funding

Councils, Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust, and jointly hosted by the University of Bristol and the University

of the West of England, the NCCPE helps inspire and support universities to engage with the public. You can find out more

at www.publicengagement.ac.uk

The NCCPE is funded by RCUK to coordinate communication and learning between and beyond the 12 SUPI projects, and

to link SUPI to other relevant initiatives.

Large print copies of the SUPI Spotlight are available on request from claire6.wood@uwe.ac.uk

Staying in touch...

Don’t forget that you can use the SUPI

Jiscmail list to share events, successes,

questions and challenges, drawing on

the network’s collective wisdom.

Contributions to the Newsletter or

NCCPE blog are also very welcome -

contact Claire Wood with your ideas!

claire6.wood@uwe.ac.uk Discussions at the SUPI Gathering in November 2014