Manoj Ravi and Mohsen Besharat join Robert Averies for Part Two of their popular LITE Bites episode on their LITE Fellowship 'Assessment Flexibility to Embed Real-professional practice'.

Listen to Manoj and Mohsen discuss their findings from the second phase of their pedagogical research and its relevance to colleagues considering innovations to their authentic assessment and formative feedback policies and approaches.

To find out more about Manoj and Mohsen's work, read their paper on a 'holistic consideration of authentic assessments', published in the European Journal of Engineering Education. You can also read the proceedings of the workshop they delivered at SEFI 2025.

In this episode of LITE Bites, Hayley Bullard is joined by Clare Wright (Professor of Linguistics & Language Teaching), Alison Leslie (Lecturer in English for Academic Purposes) and student partner Sally Heier (Research and Innovation Service) who will be discussing their recently completed project titled Stepping Up, Standing Out: Supporting international taught postgraduates to make the most of their year in Leeds.

To find out more about their project, visit their LITE page which also has a link to their full snapshot of the project. Alison and Clare have also published work from their project in the Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal.

Episode topics/timings

1.16 Introductions of research team

3.49 - What inspired the project: collaboration and a need for change

9.25 Research design: changing approach and putting student co-creation first

15.56 Sally’s student experience of research recruitment and the importance of active student participation

19.50 Flipping the deficit narrative of international students

26.48 Using infographics to communicate findings and strategies for dissemination

31.51 Engaging hearts and minds in HE

40.03 Outputs of the project

47.01 Advice for people considering pedagogical research

52.55 Sally’s advice for engaging students in research and advice for students thinking about getting involved

In the second episode from LITE Graduate Interns Oliver Bingham (Ollie) and Yu-Hsuan Lin (Lynda), they dive deeper into seminar spaces.

Do students care where they learn? This podcast explores student and staff preferences for teaching rooms, and how these spaces can impact learning.

Learn more about the Student Education & Experience Programme and Ollie and Lynda's research on the LITE intranet site, where you can also review the education spaces playbook. External to the University of Leeds? Email LITE@leeds.ac.uk to find out more.

LITE Graduate Interns Oliver Bingham (Ollie) and Yu-Hsuan Lin (Lynda) undertook a study into the provision of seminar rooms as part of the Student Education & Experience Programme, an Estates development programme which ensure University spaces provide a welcoming and inclusive experience where all our communities can belong, learn, thrive and succeed. In this podcast, they share some of their findings.

Learn more about the programme and their research on the LITE intranet site, where you can also review the education spaces playbook. External to the University of Leeds? Email LITE@leeds.ac.uk to find out more.

In the latest episode of LITE Bites, Robert Averies and Hayley Bullard are joined by Jenny Brady (Inclusive Learning and Teaching Manager & LITE Incubator Lead for Inclusive Education and Belonging) and Mike Kerr (University of Leeds Alumni & former LITE Research Assistant) to reflect on their previous LITE research, 'Listening to disabled students for an inclusive curriculum'.

Jenny and Mike's work focused on gaining an understanding of disabled students' experiences at the University of Leeds and what can be learnt from listening to student perspectives.

To read about the Jenny and Mike's findings, follow this link: Listening to disabled students for an inclusive curriculum

To learn more about Inclusive teaching and learning at the University of Leeds, follow the links below:

Inclusivity and Accessibility

Education for Mental Health Toolkit

Guidance for staff on working with disabled students

2024 Access Insights Report

For listeners external to the University of Leeds:

Belonging at Leeds - Organisational Development and Professional Learning (OD&PL)

Inclusive Teaching at Leeds

Support for Disabled Students at Leeds

In the latest episode of LITE Bites, Emma Peasland is joined by Anne Tallontire (School of Earth and Environment), Thomas Cooper (Sustainability Service) and William Young (School of Earth and Environment) to reflect on their LITE Fellowship: 'Redefining Sustainability in the Curriculum'

The research aimed to generate an institutional understanding of sustainability, climate change and equality through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

You can read more about their LITE Fellowship here, and explore other LITE Fellowships here.

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.