eSTEeM Seminar Series - A STEM scholarly response to the OU Awarding Gap

Location: Via Microsoft Teams
Contact

Diane Butler, Associate Dean (Academic Excellence) with Trevor Collins and Mark Jones, eSTEeM Directors

Abstract

Widening access to, and enhancing success in higher education, is at the heart of the OU’s mission. The Access, Participation and Success Strategy details the University's strategic approach to supporting students from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds to access HE and achieve equitable outcomes. However, there are significant differences in the proportion of OU students gaining a good module pass (1:1 and 2:1) when grouped by ethnicity, levels of higher education participation, indices of multiple deprivation or disability. The Access and Participation Plan (APP) sets out specific targets to reduce these awarding gaps by 2024/25.

This seminar will consider how the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) can be applied to inform the implementation of the OU’s Access, Participation and Success Strategy and enable the University to meet the aims and objectives of the APP. Within the STEM Faculty, a range of APP initiatives are being undertaken, from scholarship projects (supported through eSTEeM) to a curriculum review and audit. This seminar will focus on what we know about the OU’s awarding gaps, what we need to find out to develop evidence-informed interventions, what work is currently being done, and what further actions are needed.

Registration

Each seminar will be recorded and followed by an (optional) online evening discussion on the first Thursday of each month where OU colleagues are invited to come together and discuss in more detail the issues raised in the previous week’s seminar. To confirm your online attendance to the seminar and/or online discussion, please visit the registration page by Monday 22nd March.

This seminar is open to OU staff.