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Supporting students

S111 Students’ Perceptions of University Communications

  • Maria VelascoVictoria PearsonLinda Moore
  • An outcome of our previous work investigating the reasons behind passive withdrawals on a Stage 1 introductory science module identified that some students receive large numbers of diverse email communications from across the University. This project investigates whether these communications migh

    May 2025 to January 2027

    Do students benefit from having continuity in their module tutors between level 1 and level 2 on Q71, Health Sciences?

  • Sarah DaniellFiona MoormanKatie Acutt
  • Students currently have little continuity of contact with their allocated tutors on the different modules throughout their qualification. Currently student retention on Q71 Health Sciences is concerning.

    August 2025 to August 2028

    Identifying and supporting skills development needs for undergraduate science students transitioning between stages 1, 2 and 3 in Environmental Science

  • Fiona AikenIris VerhagenChris Hutton
  • With ever increasing focus on the need to support progression in our diverse student body, we are seeking to identify the most important skills gaps that present challenges to students on environmental and Earth science modules in EEES as they move from stage 1 to stage 2 and from stage 2 to stag

    May 2025 to July 2026

    Understanding the impact of ongoing support for students returning to study after reaching Restricted status

  • Elizabeth Shakespeare Anthony Short
  • Student retention and continuation are key drivers for this project. They are also key focus areas for the University.

    April 2025 to July 2026

    Exploring student’s self-efficacy in response to modular events during introductory level science modules

  • Sam Johnson
  • Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief that they can successfully complete a particular task. Self-efficacy has been shown to be strongly predictive of performance and retention. Current studies are largely cross-sectional and do not explore how self-efficacy changes throughout a module.

    October 2024 to January 2026

    Students’ emotion regulation when learning online

  • Jake Hilliard
  • 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

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

  • Silvia Varagnolo Zahra Golrokhi
  • 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

    Improving completion of remote examinations in physics

  • Sally JordanJonathan NylkBecca Whitehead
  • 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

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

  • Oli Howson
  • 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

    Mathematics support in LHCS

  • Eleanor CrabbNicola McIntyreCath Brown
  • 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

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