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eSTEeM Projects

eSTEeM is providing a mechanism for professional development through practice-based scholarship within a mentored community. Much of our work is organised on a project basis with project management aimed at the delivery of new educational outcomes and scholarship outputs. 

eSTEeM supports a rolling portfolio of approx. 80 active scholarship projects under a number of themes which include:

  • Access, Participation and Success
  • Innovative assessment
  • Online/onscreen STEM practice
  • Supporting students
  • Technologies for STEM learning

To learn more about our projects, please click on the project titles or use the search feature below by entering keywords. To search by the name of a project leader, please use the 'Filter by Project Leader' tab on the right-hand side of this page.

The search found 36 result(s)

Search results

    The STEM Good Tutor Guide

  1. Chris Douce
  2. It has been 20 years since the university published Supporting Open Learners: Reader, and the accompanying publication, Supporting Open Learners: Theoretical Reader for its tutors. These booklets offer practical guidance about many aspects of the role as a tutor.

    November 2023 to July 2024

    Evaluating the Programming for Physical Sciences website and forums on SM123 Physics and Space

  3. Andy DiamentGemma Warriner
  4. Students on SM123 Physics and space learn programming in Python across the module. Some find it straightforward, others very difficult.

    December 2023 to December 2024

    Gaining a deeper understanding of the experience and equitability of extensions and their impact on retention for Stage 1 Engineering students

  5. Emma Champion
  6. Previous scholarship has shown that students with extensions have poorer outcomes on modules and that extensions are used by a higher proportion of students within Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) groups.

    February 2024 to December 2024

    Evaluating the outcomes of embedding coding activities in an advanced physics and astronomy module

  7. Judith Croston
  8. Two key barriers to student success in advanced physics and astronomy modules are (i) the abstract nature of key concepts that are far removed from everyday life, and (ii) the use of complex maths formalism that can obscure physical interpretation.

    August 2024 to July 2026

    How do students use tutorial recordings and which formats are most effective?

  9. Cath BrownCatherine Onions
  10. Post-pandemic, students’ live attendance at online tutorials has declined significantly but it is not uncommon to see hundreds of views of recordings.

    June 2024 to June 2027

    Mathematics support in LHCS

  11. Eleanor CrabbNicola McIntyreCath Brown
  12. Science students need to develop a level of competence in mathematics to succeed in their studies.  However, Open University students in chemistry, biology and health sciences may well be unaware of the need for mathematical skills prior to embarking on their studies, and given the open entry pol

    June 2024 to December 2026

    Supporting learning with a collaborative notetaking tool to work within a Jupyter Notebook environment

  13. Oli Howson
  14. At the moment M269 students work entirely within the Jupyter infrastructure. Notetaking is not built in to Jupyter, although a rudimentary plugin has been developed for students to do so.

    July 2024 to December 2025

    Improving completion of remote examinations in physics

  15. Sally JordanJonathan NylkBecca Whitehead
  16. The project seeks to extend earlier investigations into the factors that enable students to do themselves justice in remote online exams in physics and related subjects, by encouraging them to attempt the exam in the first place and to complete a reasonable number of questions to an appropriate l

    June 2024 to September 2025

    Gamification to increase participation in maths practice quizzes in Level 1 Engineering modules

  17. Silvia Varagnolo Zahra Golrokhi
  18. The aim of this project is to improve students’ engagement with maths exercise through the gamification of existing practice quizzes. The specific context is T192 (the first module in the Engineering Qualification) which already features weekly maths practice quizzes.

    June 2024 to December 2025

    Students’ emotion regulation when learning online

  19. Jake Hilliard
  20. The purpose of this project is to explore students’ emotion regulation practices while studying online. Specifically, this study will investigate how and why students manage their own emotions, as well as examine whether they try to influence their peers' emotions in these learning settings.

    June 2024 to June 2025