LITE Podcasts – Details, episodes & analysis

In this second episode in the LITE Bites series exploring Educational Gain and Student Futures, Bee Bond is joined by Rebecca Padgett from Leeds University Business School to explore how enterprise consultancy projects support students’ educational gain and future employability.

Rebecca discusses the design of the Level 6 Enterprise Consultancy module, where students work on live consultancy briefs with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Social Enterprises. Together, they explore authentic learning, formative assessment, and how confidence, professional identity, and graduate‑relevant skills can be developed through real‑world learning at scale.

This episode will be of interest to colleagues involved in experiential learning, enterprise education, and authentic assessment.

Resources mentioned:

Peer evaluation for group work in higher education (Buddycheck).

Cappfinity strengths profile.

Institute of Student Employers for graduate and early careers research and insights.

Scott, K. (2019). Radical candor: Be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity (Rev. ed.). St. Martin’s Press.

Student Minds for student mental health and wellbeing research.

This episode of LITE Bites is hosted by LITE Student Partner Bianca Joseph. She talks to LITE Strategic Lead for Students as Partners and LITE Higher Education Research Support Officer Tanya Hathaway about her experience working as a student in collaboration with University staff.

For more information about student partnership, read:

• Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C. and Felten, P. (2014) Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education: a guide for faculty. San Francisco: Jossey‑Bass.
• Mercer-Mapstone et al. (2017) ‘A systematic literature review of students as partners in higher education’, International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(1), pp. 1–23. doi:10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3119.

In the latest episode of LITE Bites, Robert Averies is joined by Andrew Kirton (Philosophy) to reflect on his recently completed LITE Fellowship: 'Removing dominance and gatekeeping in higher education'.

Andrew's research set out to explore how academic standards and disciplinary norms might be 'opened up', challenged, and owned by students - rather than imposed upon them. He reflects on his Fellowship journey, the role of philosophy in pedagogical inquiry, and the lesser explored relationship between higher education and learning to drive!

You can read more about Andrew's LITE Fellowship here, and explore other LITE Fellowships here.

In the latest episode of LITE Bites, Robert Averies is joined by Angela Newton (Library) to reflect on her recently completed LITE Fellowship: 'Developing Object Based Learning at Leeds'.

Angela's research sought to 'build accessible evidence-based OBL scenarios that could be used in teaching, both within the School of Sociology and Social Policy and across Faculties, giving students new, unique and inspiring learning opportunities.'

You can read more about Angela's LITE Fellowship here, and explore other LITE Fellowships here.

Wider links:

• Interested in ;Teaching With Objects'? You can access Angela's article on playful learning here, and teaching sociology and social policy here.
• Ready for another pod? You can listen to Angela's L&T Chat Show episode here (Spotify account required).
• Keen to explore OBL further? You can access Angela's 'Good practice in OBL' Padlet here. You can access Angela's 'Key readings in OBL' Padlet here. You can access Angela's 'Good questions to ask students in OBL scenarios' Padlet here.

Welcome to the final episode of the first LITE Methods mini-series: a Q&A special with members of the LITE Research Team!

Robert is joined by colleagues Izzy Harvey, Matthew Bachmann and Lucy Hemingway to discuss your questions on all things pedagogical research. From collaborative methods, 'safe(r)' spaces and working with pre-university students, to the relationships between generalisability and reflexivity - we've got your questions covered.

You can find links to resources discussed in the episode categorised below.

Information and outputs from LITE Fellowships:

You can access Jenna Isherwood's story circles toolkit here.

You can read more about Barbara Kempf's Fellowship here, and Rachael O'Connor's Fellowship here.

Reflexivity:

You can access Lucy's reflexivity resource here.

U-18s research guidance:

You can read more about the Ethical Research Involving Children guidance here.

You can read the UK Government's guidance on research with children and young people here.

You can access University of Leeds guidance on research integrity here.

You can explore the National Centre for Research Methods website here. LITE also hosts examples of creative qualitative research methods, which you can read about here,

It's already the third and final episode of our new methods mini-series (time flies, right!). Today, three guests join Robert to discuss listening rooms in pedagogical research:

Clare Taylor (Disability Contact Liaison Officer, Disability Services),

Stacey Mottershaw (Associate Professor, Leeds University Business School), and

Lauren Mottle (Academic Development Consultant, Organisational Development and Professional Learning)

After an introduction to listening rooms and the ways in which it has been used by the group, we touch upon its benefits and challenges, before delving into some of the ways the method causes us to rethink the role of the researcher and participants in pedagogical research.

You can read more about Clare's Fellowship here and Lauren's Fellowship here.

You can view Stacey's listening rooms toolkit here.

Please submit your question for our Q&A special here! Deadline: 25th April, 11am.

In the second episode of LITE's new methods-mini series, Robert's guests reflect on the use of story circles in pedagogical research. He is joined by:

Beth Norfolk (mature BA student, School of English) and

Jenna Isherwood (Deputy Head of International Student Office)

Join us to reflect on what makes story circles such a powerful way of involving students in pedagogical research, consider tips and tricks for using it in practice, and share ambitions for its involvement in future student education work.

You can read more about Jenna's LITE Fellowship here and view her story circles toolkit here.

Please submit your question for our Q&A special here! Deadline: 25th April, 11am.

Welcome to LITE's brand new research methods mini-series!

In this first episode, Robert is joined by three guests to discuss the use of reflective journals and logs in pedagogical research:

Rachael O'Connor (Associate Professor in Legal Education, School of Law),

Sedek Abrahem (Masters student, School of Law), and

Sarah Joyce (Lead Instructional Designer, Digital Education Service)

This episode includes an in-depth reflection of what it was like to use the method, its benefits and challenges, and handy tips for usage in pedagogical research. You can also look forward to an Italian dessert-themed escapade.

You can read more about Rachael's LITE Fellowship here, and Sarah's Fellowship here.

Please submit your question for our Q&A special here! Deadline: 25th April, 11am.

In the latest episode of LITE Bites, Emma Peasland is joined by Samantha Stark (Digital Education Service) to discuss what she learned during her recent LITE fellowship.

Samantha's research set out to evaluate the efficacy of a new pedagogical framework to support the design of online master’s degree modules at the University of Leeds, with a focus on building capacity for active learning.

You can read more about Samantha's fellowship here, and explore other LITE fellowships here.

In the latest episode of LITE Bites, Emma Peasland asks Chiara La Sala (School of Languages, Cultures and Societies) to reflect on her recently completed LITE Fellowship, its findings, and potential next steps.

Chiara's research sought to understand the ways in which Postgraduate Research students (PGRs) engaged in teaching might positively impact pedagogic practices at the University of Leeds.

You can read more about Chiara's Fellowship here, and explore other LITE Fellowships here.