Impact case study database

This approach combines learning with work-simulation and partnerships to cultivate graduate attributes of creative problem-solving, critical and reflective thinking and effective communication. Work by Edwards, Fryer and colleagues (“Live human simulation: nurses and actors learning together”) was nominated for a Nursing Times “Teaching Innovation of the Year Award” [1]. Fryer & Boot (2017) is cited as evidence that reflection-in-action is vital to many professions in the influential text (> 11,000 citations) “Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide” by Merriam and Baumgartner [2]. Edwards and others draw on peer to peer student reviews to attest to the immersivity and authenticity of the approach. An education participant summarises a key value that “ By working with humans, the nursing students are challenged. They have to engage with the complexities of real-life interactions and improvise. This has value for both groups of students – having to really engage with sensitivity, where pre-rehearsed responses are inadequate” [3].

Geographical and subject reach is evidenced by Michigan State University who report that Fryer and Boot’s work “… was used to support our efforts to build interactive curriculum materials to build communication, teamwork and leadership skills in CyberInfrastructure (CI) professionals. This project, called the CyberAmbassadors Program, is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States (Award #1730137) and has trained more than 500 participants and 50 facilitators to date. This training makes frequent use of role-playing exercises, for which we drew on your work” [4].

In the UK, the application of performance to exploring and simulating nursing contexts involved the “Human Story Theatre” company. Gaye Poole (Actor/Writer and Artistic Director with Human Story Theatre) explains the influence of the simulation by performance approach as follows: “ We were asked to perform an extract of our play about dementia to both nursing and acting students and then run a workshop enabling the actors to simulate such ‘real’ patients. The acting students were enormously keen and talented. They realised that this medical role-play was both a possible future income source but also importantly that they were contributing to the safe and realistic learning of healthcare workers. They also saw the benefits of inhabiting real patient’s lives, helping future portrayal of more realistic characters onstage” [5].

Aspects surrounding partnership and development of learning-autonomy are under ongoing investigation as they are trialled in other modules. Initial findings indicate some success in engaging students and helping them to grow confidence as effective communicators, team workers and subject specialists. The value of the approach was recognised by students, albeit with reservation that conventional assessment may not adequately represent the development of soft skills; one student reflects “ … you can’t mark what happened inside us. So, for example, we improved our communication skills, we improved our time managing skills, and I think you can’t check it, you can’t mark it” [6].

The approach was valued for the opportunity it provided students to form partnerships with academic colleagues and become involved in the research, design and shaping of their education environments. Undergraduates also presented their experiences at two national conferences and a workshop [7].

Communications with graduates after 2-3 years in employment, indicate that the impacts of the approach have persisted. One graduate concisely states this was a … “ *Really good module! Best one and my favourite at uni.*”. Another recollects that “ This module provided many opportunities to exercise the soft skills needed to work as a software developer. I've been able to discuss the module in interviews, share a link to the web app and use examples of working in this cross-disciplinary team to answer competency-based questions”. Through partnerships students have developed the ‘graduate attributes’ required at work and widely valued by society. Student feedback to this effect include that: “ Soft skills improved a lot and it gave me a foundation on how to handle discussing projects with people who aren't developers”. Regarding developing a receptive attitude, “ Being able to listen to opinions. You will always work in a team in the web world and it won’t always go your way”, and the need for compromise in teams, “ it gives you an idea of how groups of people can and sometimes cannot work together. Having the ability to adapt and overcome issues within a brief is key to being able to cope with large departmental dealing within businesses”. Another student also appreciated having greater team-responsibility “ It gave me an opportunity to work with graphic design students and allowed the software engineering students take a little bit of a leadership within the project i.e. assigning tasks to graphic students with requirements and deadlines” [8].

Employers also testify to the effectiveness of the same graduates in the workplace. The founder and CEO of an online ticketing service reports that “ xxx has been one of our best employees. He has showed leadership as well as being able to look after big projects” [8]. The Head of Development for an online expense management service “ xxx is extremely adaptable and has shown a real “can do” attitude. He has a great work attitude and will put himself forward for tasks, despite their complexities … His interview was exceptional and he even developed and presented a UX project (based on our own product) he had been working on in his own time. Of all the attributes I would say his communication skills, ability to listen and adapt, and energy in the workplace have been key to his success so far” [8].

Wider recognition of the University contribution to both the Heritage Trail and Safe Places Apps is acknowledged by Buckinghamshire Council [9], and in part, a 2020 NTF award to research team member, Richard Jones, recognising “ a particular drive for impact demonstrated by our winners and applicants in championing equality, diversity and inclusivity within approaches to curriculum design, teaching delivery and collaborative working” (Advance HE, 2020) [10].

The Entrepreneurship Education (EE) programme was developed based on the research conducted in Eastern European universities [2] and was the central piece that supported the establishment of eight Start-up Centres in universities in: Belarus National Technical University; The Academy of Economic Science of Moldova; Komrat State University-Moldova; Kharkiv National University of Civil Engineering and Architecture-Ukraine; Ternopil National Technical University-Ukraine; Sumy State University-Ukraine; Kharkiv National University of Economics-Ukraine; National University for Municipal Economy in Kharkiv-Ukraine. [5.A and 5.D].

The research [1] was disseminated through a series of 52 dissemination events in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine [5.D p.1] and the results supported the validation of an Entrepreneurship Education Masters level programme in five top universities: Belarus National Technical University; Komrat State University-Moldova; Kharkiv National University of Civil Engineering and Architecture-Ukraine; Sumy State University-Ukraine; National University for Municipal Economy in Kharkiv-Ukraine. Validation approval documents issued by each of the above mentioned universities are presented in [5.B]. The modules that were recommended in the research led by BNU [2] were those that were validated. The five universities have validated the EE programme containing the following modules: Innovation management; Entrepreneurship; Start-up projects business planning; Leadership and start-up team management and intellectual property law. [5.B]. The validated EE programme encourages students to learn how to set-up and run a business and triggers the enrollment of over 200 students per year, [5.D]

The establishment of the start-up centres and the validation of the EE programme has had a positive impact on universities’ ability to deliver learning experiences that helped students meet their educational needs, were relevant to their future career and equipped students with appropriate skills. Evidence to support this claim is reflected in the evaluation conducted with those students who participated in the EE programme (The EE programme was titled: Innovation Development and Promotion Programme-(IDP). “ The course has met my educational needs-to a high level”-87% of the 319 participants; “ The modules were highly relevant”-78%; “ The modules have equipped me with the appropriate skills and knowledge to enhance my practice.”-85% [5.C p.32-37; p.66; p.93; p.134; p.159; p.184; p.211; p.239].

The modules, developed to encourage entrepreneurial activities, were delivered outside the classroom offering students the opportunity to experience a ‘learning by doing’ approach which is innovative in these countries where most of the learning is exclusively theoretical (Bondarchuk et.al., 2019; Pogorevici, 2019). Research is currently underway to assess the long-term impact of these programmes on the number of students who do go on to establish their own business.

The documents submitted as sources to corroborate the impact were selected from the Final Report submitted to the Executive Agency of the European Commission (EACEA). The reports were assessed by EACEA evaluators and the SUCSID project has been rated as “good”. Narrative evaluation was also provided. Quotes from the EACEA evaluation letter [5.D] (p1) states that: “ In particular we estimate that the project registered a good achievement level and impact, as confirmed by the field monitoring visits carried out in Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine by the National Erasmus+ Offices.” Another quote from the EACEA evaluation letter concludes: “ Regarding sustainability, we acknowledge that dedicated admin staff has been appointed to support the start-up centres, and that over 50 institutional partnerships & cooperation agreements have been signed with local and national enterprises. This will certainly contribute to the long-term sustainability of the centres and will guarantee commercial opportunities for the entrepreneurial ideas of the students. Furthermore, we are pleased to learn that some 200 students have enrolled to the newly-developed courses and that enterprises are now aware that universities could provide services and could be a credible partner for the training of their staff. Some enterprises even became active members of the start-up centres. This will also add to the project's long-lasting impact.” [5.D].

Obtaining funding that led to the development of the start-up centres, validation of the EE programme tailored to Eastern European universities and implementation of the EE programme was the direct result of the research led by BNU.