SoE Voices: Lifelong Learning Foundation Year showcase

Lifelong Learning is a Foundation Year programme for mature learners dedicated to equipping students with the skills to succeed on around 40 degree programs at the University of Sheffield. In this seminar, colleagues from Lifelong Learning will discuss their work.

Introducing the Foundation Year - Dr Valeria Wrigglesworth

Valeria completed a degree in Ecology and continued my studies with a PhD in Radiobiology at the Medical Radiological Research Centre in Russia which specialises in cancer research and treatment. My particular area of interest was modelling the effects of high-ionising radiation for use in cancer therapy. Since moving to the UK in 2001, I have completed a PGCE in Post-Compulsory Education and an MA in Learning and Teaching at the University of Portsmouth.

Dr Valeria Wrigglesworth is the Lifelong Learning Programme Lead. She teaches Biology,  Ecology and Academic Skills modules. Previous experiences include teaching and managing Access to HE courses in FE context.

AI positive assessment: Integrating GenAI into STEM report writing - Dr Lizzy Shaw

Foundation Year represents an opportunity to embed AI literacy at the very start of a student’s academic journey. In this talk, Dr Lizzy Shaw will present the redesign of a scientific report-writing assessment to incorporate genAI use. Here, students use genAI to plan a field report, critically appraise the output, and build on this to produce their own assessed plan and final report. She will discuss the opportunities and challenges that this redesign presented for both teachers and students and welcome discussion from colleagues on this and their own approach to the challenge of genAI and assessment.

Dr Lizzy Shaw completed a PhD in Developmental Biology at UCL in 2016, before moving to the University of Manchester, where her post-doctoral research focused on intervertebral disc degeneration - a leading cause of back pain- and the use of stem cells to model and treat the disease. She then moved to a teaching-focused role in the medical school at Manchester, which cemented her love of teaching. She moved to Sheffield to begin her current role on the Lifelong Learning tutor team in 2022. She is module lead for the Introduction to Natural Sciences and Human Biology modules, as well as acting as admissions tutor for FY science pathways.

Maths & Statistics - Dr Jacqui Kidman

Foundation Year Maths & Statistics is a 20-credit module that is core for all Foundation Year programmes in Lifelong Learning. The module aims to build numerical confidence and establish foundational quantitative skills that will help students to succeed in their undergraduate degree programmes. In this talk, Dr Jacqui Kidman will discuss my efforts to develop the Maths and Statistics module to directly address some of the challenges of this module. This includes gathering student feedback, subsequent curriculum redesign, and an interdisciplinary "Maths in Action" component to build connections to various degree pathways.

Dr Jacqui Kidman studied Biomedical Chemistry at the University of Warwick, where she also completed her Master’s degree. She went on to earn a DPhil in Evolutionary Microbiology at the University of Oxford, where she developed a passion for making science more accessible to the public. After working part-time as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Oxford and as a private tutor, she returned to Sheffield to join HeppSY, evaluating South Yorkshire’s higher education outreach. Jacqui joined the Lifelong Learning team in 2021 and now leads modules in Maths, Chemistry, and Academic Skills, and tutors across several Health programmes.