Innovations in Practice 8 April 2025
Join us for part 3 of our showcase of innovative practices, current pedagogical approaches and future aspirations in teaching and learning aligned with Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
The event will feature three presentations followed by a panel discussion, providing an opportunity for you to discuss the presentations and ask questions.
Transformative Learning: From Virtual Worlds to Gamified Classrooms
The CrimeOPS project is an innovative case-study approach that leverages gamification elements to create authentic assessment methods aimed at enhancing learning and teaching. It utilizes a virtual simulation environment, providing students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in real-life scenarios that mirror actual investigative processes. Within this simulated setting, students interact with non-playable characters (NPCs), explore diverse scenes, gather evidence, and receive feedback, allowing them to experience the complexity of real-world problem-solving.
The project’s interface is thoughtfully customized to support new learners, featuring an intuitive guidance system that ensures smooth navigation throughout the learning experience. Additionally, the platform incorporates voice and text annotation tools, enabling students to document their findings dynamically and effectively. These tools facilitate a deeper understanding as students extract and store information, analyze evidence, and develop comprehensive reports based on their virtual investigations.
CrimeOPS emphasizes active learning by encouraging students to engage critically and creatively with the material, reinforcing their knowledge through hands-on application. By simulating real-world scenarios, the project enhances critical thinking, decision-making, and communication skills. The integration of gamification elements such as interactive challenges and feedback systems further motivates students, making the learning process both engaging and educational. Overall, CrimeOPS offers a cutting-edge approach to assessment, combining technology and pedagogy to prepare students for real-world challenges in a safe and controlled environment.
Presenter: Markos Mentzelopoulos, University of Westminster
New Wave Projects
Launched at UWE School of Arts Professional Practice Week in January 2023, New Wave takes positive action to address awarding gaps and inclusion. We enable City Campus students who face intersectional barriers to take part in professional experiences.
Optimising inclusion with every project; New Wave brokers paid, flexible, part-time creative opportunities. We work collaboratively with UWE programmes and professional services, Alumni and external employers to develop accessible creative briefs that fit around study schedules.
Students are matched with jobs based on skills and availability, and those with less work experience and more intersectional needs are prioritised. A big part of what we do is supporting students to build confidence through the project start to finish.
We deliver quality outputs for clients and develop professional experience, skills and confidence for students and graduates, empowering progression in emerging creative careers.
Presenter: Anneliese Paul, University of the West of England
Hybridised, multi-mode, multidisciplinary postgraduate learning communities
The Graduate Diploma at the Royal College of Art was conceived as a programme that would recruit and support both traditional and non-traditional learners to be able to access postgraduate art and design education. With a focus on increasing the number of underrepresented groups to progress to a Masters. Key to reaching this audience was the need to offer multiple modes of delivery so that it was accessible to as many as possible across a global marketplace. The programme now offers three modes of study: in-person, online, or dual study, and three separate yearly entry points: September, January, and May. This expansion has necessitated the growth of a reliable and effective hybridised approach to delivery, allowing all students, regardless of delivery mode, to be able to learn together in a shared environment and to advance their practice and research methods in a multidisciplinary community.
Since its inception the programme has attracted students from over 48 different countries, with prior learning backgrounds as wide ranging as construction, law, medicine, science, engineering, and the social sciences as well as the broader creative industries. Progression to further study is exceptionally high and the breadth of backgrounds and approaches, ensures a rich sharing environment in which students support each other to succeed regardless of discipline and whether in person or accessing remotely. This presentation shares the ethos behind the programme and how the development of a hybridised, multi-mode, and multidisciplinary community produces strong outcomes for both students and the institution in an empathetic setting.
Presenters: Tom Sowden and Gary Clough, Royal College of Art